Complex Fire

As stated on the local Fox News:

A fire destroyed a Midvale apartment complex Saturday. The fire happened at 8 a.m. at Brighton Place Apartments. The Midvale fire department arrived at the scene quickly, but not fast enough to salvage the complex. Residents first heard an explosion then saw flames ignite from an empty unit. Not all of the units were damaged, but at least two dozen families were displaced because the building is no longer safe. There are no leads as to what caused the fire.

 

How can something like this happen in the same apartment complex, and I find out the news from my kid's bus driver? Then again, if it happened at 8 AM on a Saturday... high chances are I was sleeping. And it's a big apartment complex. Can't even see that building from where we are. We noticed a couple emergence vehicles that morning, but didn't know what happened. Today I saw a cop car and a news vehicle. The latter gave me the idea to check out the news online. Guess it's been a while since I turned on the news...

 

Apparently two teenager boys were the heroes here. They woke the rest of the building, making sure everyone got out. Could have been a lot worse.

10 Questions, in which I muse about TV and remember the past

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

461. Do you have street smarts? no

462. Do you have a lot of common sense? also no

463. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Praline Pecan

464. What's your favorite movie that involves dancing? I love dancing movies! Picking two for this one. "Strictly Ballroom", which I haven't seen in years; and "Take the Lead", which is so inspiring.

465. Would you ever want to become a guest on a talk show? If yes what would the show's theme be? No desire to.

466. Do you like the way you look naked? An unexpected question... Answer: Mostly.

467. Have you ever dissected an animal? Yes. Biology in junior high. Surprisingly, the worm was worse than the frog.

468. Who do you know who is brilliant? My older brothers. All brilliant. I've always looked up to them.

469. Who do you know who is dull? Not going to answer this one. Protecting the innocent and all that.

470. Do you ever think about time travel? Yes. Gets very complicated. Did you see the premiere of Heroes season 3? Wow.

Mystery of the Missing Discs

We have a couple spools of discs. Mostly music and anime, a few movies. And we used to have some back up discs. All back up discs (and at least one music) are missing. No where to be found. Both my husband and I have looked everywhere. The only thing I can imagine happened is that when my husband burned all the MP3s onto his new computer that the backups somehow got discarded. I don't know. That, or a whole spool is hiding in this apartment somewhere. Not that there are many places to hide... *sigh* One of the documents on a back up disc was a list of our books (up to that point). All 700 plus of them. That list took a lot of time to create. What's the point of a backup if you lose it? :-(

QA time again

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

444. Are you better at talking or listening? listening

445. What will only happen to you once in this lifetime? birth.

446. Know of any conspiracy theories you think might be credible? not on top of conspiracy theories

 
447. What are the most beautiful words that have ever been spoken to you? I might have an answer to that if I could delve into my journals (packed away, sadly). I should pay more attention to these things.

448. If it were legal would you own a human slave (race unimportant)? no. I'd be uncomfortable with a genie slave. I was uncomfortable when in 5th grade our class was split up into slaves and owners. I was the latter. I don't recall having my "slave" do much.

449. Have you ever read your own writing at a poetry reading? yes. very nerve wracking, yet empowering.

450. What is one simple thing that gives you the happy shivers? eating chocolate or banana pudding

451. What do you do for exercise? three days a week I work out 30 minutes with Yourself! Fitness (personal trainer program for Xbox).

452. Would you rather have a strict teacher with a sense of humor or a lenient teacher that doesn't teach? strict with a sense of humor. those are the ones that make learning fun.

453. If you ever have a baby what might you want to name it? my pre-married list included the following names: Jonathon Tyler, Caleb Andrew, Matrim Dale, Emma Marie, Alexa Dawn, Sariah Ruth, and Ember Nicole. Names most considered when actually pregnant: Sebastian (was our initial favorite, but my in-laws hated it), Vincent, and Ashlee (would have been B's name if he was a girl).

454. If you won free tickets to a concert from a radio show and had to choose between Inxs, Poison, Blondie and Moby, which would you choose? One moment while I look those up on YouTube. ... Okay, turns out I've actually heard music from all of them. I'd definitely go with Blondie.

455. Are you a good cook? no. I am a lousy cook. We stick to time-proven recipes.

456. Do you prefer when things come with no assembly required, even if they are a bit more expensive? no. I like assembling things with my husband. It's something we've enjoyed together since putting together our first pieces of furniture during our early days as a married couple

457. Start a sentence with the words: what if. What if magic was merely believing?

458. Are you more spontaneous and unpredictable or loyal and routine? loyal and routine

459. What is the highest number you can count to in your head? I remember trying to find out back in the elementary school days. Don't remember how high I got, but I know the numbers weren't accurate higher up (making up words such as a gagillion). Nowadays, I'd probably be likely to get lost after 1 million. I don't care to waste time finding out.

460. How do you go about losing weight? haven't had a need to. getting rid of that tummy pooch is a different matter...

the morning hour before school

Last school year, B would wake up, eat breakfast, then watch cartoons until time to get ready for school. This year, all the 7:30 am shows are ones he doesn't like to watch. He doesn't need to get ready for school until 8:15, and gets very wired and attention needy during that 45 minutes. It's beginning to get on my nerves. P usually gets here about 8, which distracts B, so it's really half an hour that's problematic.

 

I know he'd love to play on my computer for that time, but I prefer his computer time to be after lunch.

 

Any suggestions for some routine activity I can involve him in during that time? Something that doesn't require much set up or clean up? This would be every morning before school (Monday through Thursday). Any help would be appreciated.

Tuesday Tally, revitalized

EotF Update

total words to date: 93,574

pages: 412

chapters revised: 26.5/27 (draft 5)

 

T.C. Status

word count: 1471

 

I've been working on multiple stories today. My creative gear must have kicked back in. I think there are multiple factors that have helped oil it. The query homework challenge from Liana, preparing for an online writing conference next month (picking workshops, reading handouts, etc), and reading. As a self-inflicted punishment for not finishing my current draft, I had been not reading books. I finally realized that was backfiring. I need to read to get inspiration for my own writing.

 

I found an old note about a couple story ideas and had to add them to my saved list on the computer. I believe one of the ideas will work great combined with two others I merged not long ago. Way down on the street my family lives on, there is (was?) a woman nicknamed "the crazy lady". I admit to calling her that myself at times. She always had odd decorations out in her tree and lawn. Stuffed animals, streamers, holiday decorations in the wrong season. Sometimes she would dance on her lawn. A modern day hippie of sorts. I don't know anything about her other than what we would see walking by. I may have called her crazy, but I secretly admired her and wanted to write a story about her. Without going into the other two story nuggets, here's what I wrote today:

 

Dear Conner,

A new school year has started. New teenagers walking by my house, to and from the Junior High down the block. New faces, but nothing has changed. I'm still the crazy lady. I overheard them snickering about it as they walked by today. I'm not crazy. Just different. I'm happy. I can't help but express it. They don't understand me, for they have not experienced my happiness. They won't stop and listen to the music.

 

Are you still listening? To the music?

 

Sincerely,

Alexa Dawn

 

Letters will be a big factor in the first part of the book. I need to give her a unique letter closer, but there's no rush on that. I still have EotF to polish, and TC to write!

 

... and my personal time is almost up. Soon I must go out and wait for the school bus to drop off B. I will have to make good use of these school hours.

360voice

My Xbox360 has joined the blogging community.

 

http://www.360voice.com/tag/feywriter

More QA

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

429. Are there any animals you flat out refuse to touch? slug (touched one once accidentally. eww, eww, eww!)

430. Do you care about your weight? I don't monitor it regularly, but I would certainly care if I gained a noticeable amount

431. Did you/will you go to the prom? yes, I went to prom. though I asked him (he went to a different school). would I have been asked by anyone if I hadn't taken the initiative? probably not.

432. Have you ever wanted to date twins? no. though there were some cute ones that were friends of a younger sister.

433. What one thing would you change about high school if you could? more options for the half year electives. I took a fashion class for the sole reason that it was the "best of the worst" of my options.

434. If you came with a warning label, what would it say? keep away from sharp corners

435. Are you artistic and creative? as a writer, I'd like to believe so

436. What were you (probably) doing on this date last year? thanks to blog archives, I can actually look this up. I was blogging and working on writing the first draft of EotF during the 100 days challenge.

 

437. What are you obsessed with? books

438. What was the last compliment you received? My query sounds like a great story! Always good to hear what's working. :-)

439. Do you have any brothers or sisters? yes. 3 brothers and 5 sisters.

440. Who would you like to be alone with right now? my husband. :-)

441. Do you push people away when you really want them to come closer? sometimes. when I don't feel worthy of a relationship, I have a tendency to throw at them all my faults, testing them to see if they want "the real me". (not deliberate, mind you, just something I've observed from evaluating past relationships)

442. Is a prenuptial agreement necessary or does it take the romance and trust out of marriage? I can understand certain situations might lend themselves to a prenup (celebrity weddings as an example), but most marriages don't (or shouldn't) need one.

443. Do you lie your way out of things? occasionally. don't we all? most commonly with telemarketers.

Tuesday Update

I was productive in my procrastinating this past weekend. I've completely reworked my query for EotF (again). It's shorter, but hopefully more clear. Outside eyes would be helpful.

 

When Marian isn't helping her mother with her herbalist trade, she retreats to the forest. The woods hold a secret for her alone, a crying voice that echoes her own loneliness. When the forest is targeted for lumber, Marian is determined to find a way to stop it. Unbeknownst to her, however, the mythical Fey have their own reason for saving the forest. They take matters into their own hands and burn the village to protect the spirit of their banished goddess. Furious at the loss of her mother and home, Marian unleashes a magic she didn't know she had. Her magic becomes the one way she can have control in her life.

 

The Fey seek the hope of their race, a woman of mixed blood who can initiate the return of their goddess before their magic dies. The Enchanters fear the Fey goddess and kill every female born with magic in order to prevent her return. Marian fits the description, but only wishes to study her magic in peace. Marian must choose to either save those who killed her mother or lose the magic that has defined her.

 

Emergence of the Fey is a 95,000 word work of fantasy. I have been a moderator and fantasy newsletter editor for over two years on Writing.com.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions?

More Thoughts and Memories

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

413. What's the bravest or most daring thing you have ever done? I don't know about brave. for daring as in stupid: once walked seven miles from a movie theatre to my parents house, after midnight, stopping once to nap on some grass next to a business sign. though I wasn't stupid enough to accept a ride offered by some guys driving by.

414. "What's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?" (- Adam Ant) Power. To prove that you can break in, or the person isn't as safe as they thought. No, I haven't done it, but I've read plenty of books. :-)

415. If your man or woman served you breakfast in bed as a treat what would you want? I love French Toast, but I don't think I want to risk that in bed, so we'll go with fruit, cinnamon rolls, and milk.

416. What do you do only when you are upset? swear

417. What's the oddest CD in your collection? Mediaeval Baebes: The Rose

418. What's the best diary name you ever saw? diary's have names? Blogs have names. I suppose a blog can be an online diary I suppose. I always considered diaries to be more private lock and key than journals though. A favorite blog title I've seen: "The Butterfly Effect: The smallest event can change everything."

419. What would your friends be surprised to learn about you? I was once hospitalized for depression.

420. Who owes you an apology? nobody owes me anything

421. Who deserves an apology from you? all my blog readers, for my inconsistent entries. my writing group for not keeping updated.

422. How would you like to treat your kids differently from the way your parents treated you? more consistent bedtime. But B needs the bedtime routine. I know all children are different, and I was an exception in my family. When I was little my mom let me stay up and play as long as I didn't disturb the rest of the family, then go to bed on my own when I got tired. Of course there were more restrictions once I got into school, but I've always been the night owl. I think my parents did a great job raising me. They did their best. I hope to do the same with my son.

423. Which do you like best: 60's, 70's or 80's fashion? 80's, as that's what I grew up with. given a choice though, I'd go back further, to the 50's.

424. What is the worst pick up line ever used on you? online: "Can you teach me how to cyber?"

425. Of the following, which word best describes you: inventive, kinetic (energetic), light-hearted, mature. inventive

426. Do you own a record player? no. Do you use it? NA

427. How easily do you make friends? I am open to friendships, but not very good at initiating them.

428. What is the difference between having character and being a character? being comfortable with your self, versus projecting a personality that you want others to see